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Monday, January 21, 2013

Black Empire Dresser

Right after Christmas, I had the opportunity to take a day with my husband to find some furniture projects for my booth at SuzAnna's. I just love days like that... just my husband and I picking through some old barns. I'm not sure what other couples do when their kids are away for the day, but our "days off" over the years have usually consisted of some major house project or something that's not easy to do or safe with the kids around. Anyway, I found a few projects pieces that day including this beautiful Empire dresser.

It wasn't in terrible condition when I found it, but definitely needed some love. One of the feet had been cracked and there were large areas that needed some wood filler on the frame of dresser. After getting these fixed up the best I could, I knew that the frame would needed to be painted and I decided to go with General Finish's Lamp Black for this one because of the heavy stain on the wood. If you are ever looking for a true black performance paint, this is the way to go! I know several other bloggers that have used this paint and loved it as well...very, very durable.

Even though the wood on the drawers is far from perfect, I decided to keep them unpainted as the wood grain is so beautiful and I have a "thing" with two-toned furniture right now. I cleaned them up and waxed them with MMS Furniture Wax to help revive the old wood. I completely lucked out and scored this dresser with the original glass knobs! They are in great condition...no cracks or chips.

I wish I came upon more of these Empire-style dressers! I just love the lines on them. This one will be heading up to SuzAnna's in a couple of weeks when I expand the booth...

I completed several other tables and projects last week and I'll share those soon.

This is just beautiful, Kristen! You did a wonderful transformation. I didn't know you had a booth at SuzAnna's. A good blogger friend of mine, Mary Sullivan, had a booth there with her friend Vanessa, I think it was called Two Old Birds. She's from Raleigh, too, and I had the fun of meeting her last year in Asheville. I'd love to get out that way again and visit, maybe stopping in at SuzAnna's!

Love the way it turned out and great that you kept some of that fabulous original wood grain....Can't wait to see your expanded new space...I know this piece won't be there long!!...Beautiful job as always Kristen!

This is great! I have an original Empire dresser that I bought years ago for my husband. The veneer is flaking off the frame, but the drawers are still good. It also has its original mirrored knobs. This is a good solution to the problem. The veneer repair would cost many hundreds of dollars, so I might as well paint it like you did here. Ann

I popped on over from MMM. There is just something about an Empire dresser that makes it stand out. And, what you did with this dresser makes it stand out even more. Love the black, with the natural wood and the shiny bling pulls. A MEGA success!